Bell Telephone Talk (1901)
Context: The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion. That intellectuality is more vigorous that has attained its strength gradually. It is the man who carefully advances step by step, with his mind becoming wider and wider — and progressively better able to grasp any theme or situation — persevering in what he knows to be practical, and concentrating his thought upon it, who is bound to succeed in the greatest degree.
“Most people judge men only by success or by fortune.”
La plupart des gens ne jugent des hommes que par la vogue qu'ils ont, ou par leur fortune.
Variant translation: Most people judge men only by their fashion or their fortune.
Maxim 212.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)
Source: The Myth of Male Power (1993), Part II: The Glass Cellars of the disposable sex, p. 172.
“Most men become successful and famous, not through ambition, but through ability and character.”
The Business of Life (1949)
Context: Many people are thwarted by excessive ambition. They want a hundred thousand dollars but are unwilling to save a hundred dollars. They want a big house, but do not accumulate enough money to make the down payment on on a small house. They want to write a book, but will not learn to write a letter. Most men become successful and famous, not through ambition, but through ability and character.
“Success as a result of industry is a peasant ideal.”
As quoted in "Ten Jack-Offs" in The Most Beautiful Woman in Town (1983) by Charles Bukowski
“Greatness has nothing to do with results or with success.”
Source: An Essay on Aristocratic Radicalism (1889), p. 19
Source: The Commercial Power of Great Britain, 1925, p. xxxi ; Highlighted section cited in: Joel Mokyr. The Enlightened Economy: Britain and the Industrial Revolution, 1700-1850. 2011. p. 237
Context: The successes obtained in the government of the arts, are similar to the successes obtained in the government of men. We may succeed for a time, by fraud, by surprise, by violence: we can succeed permanently only by means directly opposite. It is not alone the courage, the intelligence, the activity of the manufacturer and the merchant which maintain the superiority of the productions and the commerce of their country; it is far more their wisdom, their economy, above all their probity.
Kaddish for a Child Not Born (1990)
